Coca-Cola Park a hit with businesses

OUTLOOK 2010

The IronPigs' stadium has led an economic revival for its east Allentown neighborhood.

The entrace to Coca-Cola Park, home of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. (April Bartholomew/The…)

March 14, 2010|By Brian Callaway | Of The Morning Call

Fly balls aren't the only things that have been popping up around Coca-Cola Park.

The IronPigs' stadium, which opened to great fanfare two years ago, has spawned more than a legion of fresh baseball fans in the Lehigh Valley. It's also led to an economic revival of sorts for the east Allentown neighborhood it now calls home.

Each game there draws as many as 10,000 fans -- many of whom stop and spend their money at the gas stations and convenience stores near the stadium, or grab dinner and a couple of beers before the first pitch or after the last inning.

"It's been a shot in the arm for that area," said Pete Reinke, vice president of regional development for the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp.

That means people who never spent much time in east Allentown are now making regular visits there.

Pete Racanella of Bethlehem takes his 8-year-old son, Patton, to eight or 10 IronPigs games a year. And they find reasons to visit the neighborhood even when the IronPigs aren't in season.

Patton has taken a liking to the arcade at the PigPen Sports Bar on Union Boulevard, and the two were there playing with some other kids last month, well before baseball season began.

"We like it a lot better than Chuck E. Cheese," Racanella said.

"If we didn't have a baseball stadium across the way, the place would die in the summer," said John Ruble, the PigPen's co-owner.

Ruble bought the old Boulevard Lanes bowling alley on Union Boulevard several years ago as plans for the new stadium were starting to come together.

At the time, he paid less than $1 million, and said the bowling alley was barely a "break-even" business, but he knew the prospect of a baseball stadium within walking distance promised good things.

So he and his partners transformed the old bowling alley into what its Web site calls an "entertainment complex," complete with bowling lanes, an arcade, dining areas and two bars.

And what had been a break-even business, is now doing "quite well," Ruble said.

He estimates the building is now worth $10 million, and said on game nights the place is filled to near capacity with 2,000 or so people.

Indeed, he even predicted Union Boulevard could eventually challenge MacArthur Road as the Valley's retail and dining hub.

"Our business is booming here," he said.

Business is booming at nearby Pitchers Sports Bar & Grille, too.

Rose Stofko bought the old Indulge nightclub about eight years ago. Two years ago, as the IronPigs were preparing to open their inaugural season, she converted the nightclub into Pitchers.

She admits she was wary that ballpark crowds might monopolize the parking spots around her place but not actually spend money there.

''We thought it was going to hinder us,'' she said. ''But 99.9 percent of the people will come in and eat, walk to the game, and then come back afterward.''

She estimates that business is up about 50 percent since the stadium opened. And it's not only because of baseball games. When Coca-Cola Park holds other events, such as last summer's Bob Dylan concert, business booms for her, as well.

''Anything they have over there, we definitely benefit.''

Reinke, the LVEDC vice president, said bars and restaurants aren't the only beneficiaries.

Local food and beverage suppliers benefit by helping feed fans during games, and the park's billboards offer valuable exposure for local businesses.

''A lot of those companies, you're in somebody's face and people see your /[billboard/] on the news every night,'' he said, ''so that can't help but help some of those businesses.''

But the main benefit seems to be what the park means for that part of the city.

Having a place that regularly attracts thousands of people makes the neighborhood more attractive for companies that want to come in and redevelop older properties, Reinke said, such as the LSI property on Union Boulevard.

The success of Coca-Cola Park has also helped boost the chances of the long-discussed new minor league hockey arena in that part of the city, he said.